Eli Frieden
My blood turns cold. Am I the only one alive? -''Eli Frieden, Masterminds'' Eli Frieden is one of the five protagonists of the Masterminds trilogy. His point of view starts the first two stories. Eli believed he was cloned from the Crossword Killer, Bartholomew Glen, but in Masterminds: Payback, it was revealed that he was really cloned from Tamara Dunleavy, who ended up taking him in as her son. He was raised by the leader of Project Osiris, Felix Frieden/Felix Hammerstrom and tricked into believing that he was his father, while his mother died when he was young. Personality Eli is a bit reckless, but loyal and brave. He's also logical and caring, and good with electronics as he taught himself to drive a car from an Xbox game. Eli isn't afraid to turn to someone unusual for help, and it shows when he goes to confide in Tori Pritel, who is both younger and a girl. Appearance He’s fairly tall, slim and athletic, with dark hair. With a thoughtful, “brainy” expression, he’s a computer whiz who is said to be very bright. Tori says that he's really good-looking and is probably correct, as a lot of girls who thought he was Blake Upton called him "hot". Relationships Felix Frieden/Hammerstrom ("Father"/Enemy) Before discovering the truth about Project Osiris, Eli is supposedly very close to his "father" Felix Hammerstrom, although it's later revealed that it was all a lie. It seems that Hammerstrom is alone taking care of Eli, who was told his mother passed away many years before. After he gets sick going off city limits, Hammerstrom brings Eli to the hospital where he is drugged to be brainwashed again. By the end of book one, Eli has come to terms that Felix is his enemy, but still bears a bit of emotional attatchment to the only father he knew for thirteen years. At the end Eli thinks that Hamerstorm is crazy. Randy Hardaway (Best Friend) Randy is one of the children in Serenity with a real family. At age thirteen, he is sent away to McNally boarding school after knowing too much, while everyone thinks that he's going to live with his grandparents. Eli and Randy grow up as best friends, but contact between the two is cut after Randy is sent away. However, he leaves a note for Eli that leads him to believe that something is wrong in the only town he's ever known. Later, Randy provides Eli, Amber, Malik, and Tori with a place to stay following their escape from Serenity. Before Randy left, Randy and Eli created card for the Purple People Eaters. After Randy left, Eli shared the cards with the school where they became wildly popular. It is mentioned that Randy always had liked to tease Eli. Tori Pritel (Crush) (See also Teli) Eli Frieden ends up becoming close to Tori Pritel after Randy's move. This is unusual for him, as she's a girl and a year younger, as well as a grade below. He feels comfortable talking to her, unlike Amber Laska ("it always feels like she's judging you") or Malik Bruder ("will use it against you later"). In the end of Masterminds: Criminal Destiny, the pair ends up being split from the rest of the group and taking a helicopter. Malik teases them about liking each other early on, even though Tori denies it in the second book. In the third book, Eli gets jealous over a movie star named Blake Upton who Tori has a celebrity crush on. (Blake is said to look exactly like Eli.) It has been confirmed that Eli admires Tori, and is also very fond of her. In Criminal Destiny, on the night before the kids broke C.J. Rackoff out of jail, Eli and Tori shared a moment where Eli held Tori's hand. Tamara Dunleavy (DNA Donor) In the second book when they met Tamara Dunleavy she couldn't take her eyes off Eli. In the third book when Eli and Blake Upton go see the Crossword Killer, Bartholomew Glen, it is revealed that Eli's her clone. When he and the others are taken in by Tamara, they get along well, presumably because he's her clone. She forgives them for sneaking away, stealing her Bentley (again), and using her money to bribe a pilot. He considers her genetically closer to him than a mother and calls them "two computer nerds in a pod". Trivia * Eli is the first protagonist in each book. * He is described to have black hair and gray eyes. * Cloned from the cofounder of Project Osiris, Tamara Dunleavy. * He is confirmed to be 13, and 14 in the end of Payback. * He is a heavy sleeper * Eli's a computer whiz